I. Read the first part of Chapter IX and for each question indicate the correct answer A, B or C.
1. How long did Queen Victoria rule?
A 64 years.
B 48 months.
C 60 months.
2. Who did Queen Victoria marry?
A Admiral Peter.
B Prince Alfred.
C Prince Albert.
3. How many children did she have?
A nine.
B five.
C none.
4. When did Queen Victoria die?
A 1901.
B 1900.
C 1910.
5. How much of the Earths land surface did the British Empire cover during Queen Victorias rule?
A one third.
B one quarter.
C one fifth.
6. What was the population of the British Empire during Victorias rule?
A 317 million people.
B 370 million people.
C 300 million people.
7. Where did the mutiny of 1857 against British rule take place?
A Burma.
B India.
C Indonesia.
8. What was an important feature of the Crimean War?
A It was the first war to be photographed.
B Tanks were used for the first time.
C Machine guns were used for the first time.
II. Read the passage below and choose the correct word A, B, C or D for each space.
(1) .. Queen Victorias 64-year rule the British Empire (2) .. one-fifth of the earths land surface. The colonies (3) .. wealth to thousands of people. Technology made progress: the telegraph and the telephone (4) .. communications, and the railway changed the way people and goods (5) ... More people lived in crowded towns and cities (6) .. in the countryside because most jobs were in the towns and cities.
But if thousands became rich, many thousands suffered. Charles Dickens shocked public (7) .. with his novels (8) .. poverty and social injustice. (9) .. working conditions and child labour remained a big (10) .. during the Victorian Age.
The poor had an extremely difficult life and some (11) .. to live in workhouses. Many of (12) .. emigrated to America or to the colonies.
1. A After B During C At D Before
2. A defended B grew C took D covered
3. A bring B brought C bringing D brings
4. A transformed B transported C translated D transports
5. A move B moving C moves D moved
6. A rather B to C than D instead
7. A value B moral C opinion D world
8. A about B treating C attack D for
9. A Terrific B Tremendous C Terrible D troubled
10. A program B problem C project D proposal
11. A went B gone C these D going
12. A their B them C it D they
III. Decide if each statement is correct or incorrect. If it is incorrect, find the answer in the text.
1) In Landseers painting Windsor Castle in Modern Times, Queen Victoria and her husband look more like a middle-class couple than members of the royal family.
2) Precise () details are the important elements of Turners paintings.
3) Turner was fascinated ( ) by machines, trains and steamships.
4) Many Victorian artists painted group portraits of Victorian society at railway stations.
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5) The Great Exhibition of 1851 publicized () the most important Victorian paintings.
6) Until the 1870s, artists did not begin to show the reality of Victorian poverty in their paintings.
7) Fildes was more interested in painting portraits of the aristocracy than showing social issues in his work.
CHAPTER X
THE EDWARDIAN AGE AND WORLD WAR I
THE NEW CENTURY
After Queen Victorias death in 1901, her son Edward VII became king. Great Britain had just stepped into the twentieth century. The population of Great Britain was now about 40 million. During the Edwardian Age the first cars appeared on the roads but only the rich could afford them at first. Telephones and electric lighting were beginning to appear in the homes of the wealthy. The first cinemas with silent films opened in this period and proved to be a huge success with everyone.
In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Womens Social and Political Union (WSPU). Members of the WSPU were called suffragettes (), and fought for womens right to vote (suffrage) by protesting in the streets. As well as dramatic protests such as hunger strikes () and women-only demonstrations, Mrs Pankhurst used posters and prints to spread her message. Posters were modern in style with heavy black lines and simplified images. Suffragettes were often taken to prison! Women over 30 finally obtained the right to vote in the 1918 elections.
During the Edwardian Age about one third of the population was poverty stricken and lived in miserable conditions. The government passed several laws to alleviate () the suffering of the poor: it started giving free school meals to poor children and paid pensions to people over 70 years of age. The National Insurance Act ( ) gave workers free medical help and a small amount of money when they were ill.
At the beginning of the 1900s military rivalry (, ) was growing between Great Britain and Germany, a leading industrial and economic power of the period. Both countries were competing for territory in Africa from the late nineteenth century. When Germany started building a massive navy, Britain felt her superiority at sea to be threatened. An arms race ( ) began between Germany and Britain.
In May 1910 King Edward VII died and was succeeded by his son, who became King George V. He proved to be a capable and dedicated leader during World War I and during the difficult post-war period which followed. George Vs family name was Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but in 1917 he changed it to Windsor because of the strong anti-German feeling of the British during World War I.
All of Europe was worried about the growth of German power. Eventually the great European powers split (=divided) into two alliances: Britain, France and Russia, and Germany and Austria-Hungary.
There was so much tension that even a small incident could lead to a war. The assassination ( ) of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo was the incident that started World War I.
WORLD WAR I
On 4 August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. The British population felt patriotic and united because they believed that this was a just war. Young men joined the armed forces as volunteers (). Over 100,000 women worked as nurses and most were volunteers. However, no one could have imagined the horrors of this war. For the first time modern technology was used in a conflict and the results were devastating (, ). The war was also photographed extensively ().
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The battles were fought not only in Europe but also in Turkey, the Middle East and at sea. The German Navy attacked English ports and German zeppelin airships () bombed London. Everyones life was touched or changed in some way.
The Germans also used submarines for the first time to destroy British and American merchant ships ( ) that carried food and supplies to Britain. The United States of America entered the war in 1917 and about a year later Germany was defeated. During the war 750,000 British soldiers were killed, and 2½ million seriously wounded. The horror and sadness of the war were best expressed by the British war poets, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Laurence Binyon, and the war painters, Paul Nash and John Singer Sargent.
Paul Nash experienced the brutality () of the war for himself. He wanted to show the truth about the suffering and stop the older generation from continuing the war. In his paintings the landscape has been devastated by continuous bombing. There are craters () and ruined buildings, and the trees have all been destroyed. At the time, war artists were not allowed to show dead people in their paintings, by order of the government. Therefore Nash used an apocalyptic (, ) landscape and surreal light to represent the annihilation () of the young soldiers who were killed there.
THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH
After the war the Treaty of Versailles gave Britain several German and Turkish colonies and the British Empire increased in size. However, due to the post-war economic situation and the worldwide depression, Britain could no longer afford to keep an empire. Countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa wanted greater independence to govern their own affairs. In 1931 Parliament passed a statute that recognized the dominions complete independence from Britain. The dominions became equal members of the organization known as the British Commonwealth. India also wanted to achieve self-government, but it would have to wait until 1947 to become an independent state.
After insistent () demands for independence, in 1921 Ireland was divided into the Irish Free State (Eire - ), which was predominantly Roman Catholic, and Ulster (, Northern Ireland), predominantly Protestant, which remained a part of the United Kingdom.
As with most major wars, World War I marked the beginning of a period of great change. The most important change was the decline () in British trade, since Britain was no longer the only international industrial power. The United States and Germany had become strong competitors, Japan and China also entered the world market.
THE DEPRESSION IN EUROPE
The coal, steel and ammunitions () industries needed fewer workers and this resulted in unemployment. British industry was resistant () to innovation and change, and this attitude damaged the economy. Frustrated (, ) workers organized The General Strike ( ) in 1926 to protest against pay cuts and longer working hours, but it did not solve their problems.
In October 1929 the United States of America suffered a severe financial crisis known as the Wall Street Crash. Many American banks closed and thousands of firms and individuals went bankrupt. This economic crisis spread throughout the world. By 1931 nearly 3,000,000 British workers were unemployed. This dismal (, ) period was known as the Great Depression.
The terrible conditions of this era are shown in many photographs. By the time of the Depression, photographs had replaced paintings as a way of recording social conditions. The American government asked Dorothea Lange to make a photo-report of the economic crisis and its effects on people. Her photographs are a historical document as well as a work of art.
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In spite of Britains social and economic problems, the monarchy remained popular, and in 1936 Edward VIII became king on the death of his father. However, he decided to abdicate () the throne rather than give up the woman he loved. He could not be king and marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. Edward VIIIs brother, George VI, became king and in spite of initial doubts about his leadership qualities, he became a popular figure because of his solidarity with the people during World War II.
High unemployment, hunger and poverty were the ideal conditions for the birth of the Fascist Party in Italy and the Nazi Party in Germany. Thousands of desperate, frustrated people began to follow two new leaders, Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy, who promised them a better life.
Do the following exercises:
